Anyone feel like a party? on Labyrinth Gardens

Elly Eriksson

November 19, 2008 8:44 AM

Anyone feel like a party? by Elly Eriksson

She hadn't woken up feeling any different, but the dawn of today chnaged Elly's life. Not drastically, admittedly, but when she went home at midterm (if by then she had a home to go back to) she could drive a motorbike, buy a lottery ticket, or even get married... not that she would be doing any of those things, but it was fun to think that she could if she wanted.

After a long lie-in, Elly had a hot shower and got dressed in her newest pair of jeans - they were still dark blue and not even ripped yet! - and a plain white hooded sweater over a green vest top. Grabbing a spare blanket from under her bed, she pushed her feet into her old orange flip-flops and headed discreetly to the kitchens. The prairie elves were, as usual, far too eager to help out. Her arms now full of all sorts of sweet and savory snacks, Elly walked awkwardly back to the gardens.

When she arrived at her swing, Elly had to blink a couple of times to verify what she was seeing. As if it had known there would be a party, the clearing within the labyrinth had expanded to three times its usual size, with the old ironwood tree bent over right in the centre. Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Elly laid down the blanket and deposited the food upon it. It wasn't as tidy as Echo's spreads for the Fury! meetings usually were, but hopefully her party guests wouldn't mind.

Once the food was out, Elly spared a few minutes to decorate the surrounding hedges with stars and paper banners sprouting from the tip of her wand. She was just putting the finishing touches to the branches of the swing tree when she noticed someone round the corner into the pary space. "Hi," Elly greeted, smiling widely.

0 Elly Eriksson Anyone feel like a party? 92 Elly Eriksson 1 5

Saul Pierce

November 19, 2008 6:02 PM

Always by Saul Pierce

"Elly!" Saul exclaimed as he spotted one of his two favorite EEs in the whole wide world. "Happy Birthday!" he grinned at her. "The big One Six. Congrats. Welcome to the elite ranks of people able to call fifteen year olds yung'uns," he told her with the air of someone who had passed the sixteen year landmark ages ago instead of just over three months previously.

Sometimes, he forgot the school year breakdown make him seem a lot older than the fifth years than he actually was, and he didn't mind fostering that impression as much as possible. It was a strange and baffling thought to have, whenever it crossed his mind that Elly could have been in his year if she'd been born just a week earlier. He tried not to think about it, usually successfully.

"Got you something," he told her, his grin growing wider as he held out a small (somewhat poorly wrapped) box, just large enough to hold the matchbox car Corvette that was inside it. Simon had given him a toy minivan for his big day in June, but Saul though Elly would appreciate a nicer car to honor her ascension into the ranks of potential drivers. Saul had been very specific when he'd told Simon what to buy (something classy, but something that stood out as befits Elly - maybe something with glitter) when he went into Vegas on Thursday. Saul naturally hadn't thought to buy something before coming back to Sonora.

He looked around, noticed the food, and left Elly with her gift as he swooped down on the spread. "Oo! Brownies!"

So much for sounding older and mature.\r\n\r\n

1 Saul Pierce Always 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Elly

November 24, 2008 1:44 PM

Me too by Elly

Elly grinned widely and waved at Saul as he rounded the corner. "Thanks," she replied to his jubilations. She knew Saul wasn't that much older than her but he seemed to like pretending that he was, so she didn't make a deal fo it. It did feel fun to be older than fifteen, anyway.

"Ooh," Elly said, taking the proffered gift. She unwrapped it and laughed, delighted with the minature car inside. "That's great," she said with enthusiasm, slipping the gift into the pocket of her hoodie for the time being.

As Saul headed right for the brownies (Elly began to wonder whether it had been worth bringing those savory snacks), Elly sat on her swing. She was pretty pleased it was still there and as strong as when she'd first built it with Saul and Mr Tellerman's help, though she supposed there wasn't any reason for it not to be - unless anyone wanted to take it down. It wasn't in the way or anything, and probably didn't get much use. She kicked off lightly and swung gently, enjoying the momentary peace before her friends joined her.

"Oh, I didn't think to get any music," she said suddenly. She got food and decorations, and had some party games in mind if people were in the right mood to play them, but hadn't thought to organise any music. "Maybe we'll all just have to sing," she laughed.

0 Elly Me too 0 Elly 0 5

Saul Pierce

November 24, 2008 2:32 PM

You keep copying me. I'm starting to doubt my uniqueness. by Saul Pierce

Saul's eyes widened in something almost like fear and horror. He swallowed his mouthful of brownie hurriedly and shook his head vigourously. "Not me. No way. Not singing." He grabbed a cup of pumpkin juice and took a quick sip. "I'm musically cursed," he told her with the same amount of self-identification as if he were telling her he had brown hair or his name was Saul. "You don't want to hear me try."

He grinned, as he added, "I think the last time I did, I was unfavorably compared to a dying cat riding a squeaky tricycle while dragging its claws along a chalkboard." He shrugged, grinned again, and added, "But in my defense, my voice was in the process of changing at the time and it squeaked even when I wasn't attempting to sing."

Taking another bite of his brownie, he chewed and swallowed, and added, "I bet Simon has a radio or something in his room that he could lend us if you think we need one." Close as they were, Saul felt no compunction against volunteering his cousin or his belongings to any endeavor where he felt they might prove helpful.

1 Saul Pierce You keep copying me. I'm starting to doubt my uniqueness. 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Irene Liddowe

November 24, 2008 6:52 PM

Switching it up? by Irene Liddowe

Irene, in all honesty, had never been to a birthday party. She had witnessed a few of her own. She had been to family birthday dinners, but never had she actually been invited to a birthday party. She might have when she was little, before the fire, but that was past the beginning of her memories. So as Irene approached the Gardens she felt her stomach twist. It wasn't like she knew what she was suppose to do at these things. It had taken her forever to figure out what clothes to put on, let alone figure out what she should get Elly for her big Sixteenth! In the end, she had decided on her favorite jean pants and on of her nicer dark blue shirts. Nicely casual? The brunette girl held a violently red present in her hands. Its contents weren't too too special, more of a joke between friends. The planner was colorful with many little golden snitches zooming across the cover. The days on the calander were color-changing when tapped with a wand and, if the writer desired, the book would shout reminders if needed.

Elly and Irene had spent many free periods on the Pecari couch, taking a refreshing break from the busy Pecari lives. It was the curse of being in their house that made them so active in everything around the school. So Irene figured the girl might need some organization in her life. Or not. Either way it was a gift idea and she went with it. Just in case that didn't work too well, Irene had slipped in a silver charm bracelet. She could add charms as she wished then. The gathering in the gardens came into view and Irene felt her nerves twist. Elly was spotted easily, her red hair staning out amoungst the masses of green. Irene grinned over and waved, letting out a long breath before she reached her.

"Hey!" She said, debating handing the present over or putting it on the table or... "I have something for you! Do you want it now or..." She trailed off, her blue-green eyes falling to where Saul was standing. "Oh, sweet desserts. Hi, Saul!" Okay, so maybe she could handle this...

0 Irene Liddowe Switching it up? 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Echo Elms (with Brett Hodges)

November 28, 2008 9:12 AM

More Late Arrivals by Echo Elms (with Brett Hodges)

The gift had arrived yesterday, to Echo's immense relief. Otherwise, he was going to have to get Elly an IOU and admit that he'd forgotten to get something over the summer. Or that it hadn't occurred to him because she hadn't had a party before. It somehow hadn't occurred to him that girls had Sweet 16 parties. A guy's 16th was passed largely unnoticed apart from the learner's permit and access to keys.

The more humiliating part of it was that Brett had thought of it, so he'd been able to go shopping himself in California's expansive wizarding shops.

"Dude, are you ready yet?" Brett complained from his bed. "What's taking you so long?"

"Uh," Echo said. There was an issue with the tape and the gift wrap and managing both at the same time. It was Brett's tape and Brett's gift wrap so they were in Brett's dorm.

When the gift wrap problems had been settled and both of their gifts were more or less covered in colorful balloons, the pair raced out to the gardens without a thought of the weather and whether or not t-shirts were appropriate. At Sonora, t-shirts were always perfect.

Irene and Saul were already there. Brett came up behind his girlfriend and simultaneously wrapped an arm around her and held out his gift to Elly with a big, "Hello, Love," for Irene and a "Happy Birthday, Firecracker!" for Elly. Inside his cleverly wrapped package was a Fire Pen. It had three different settings. On the first setting, the words you wrote with it would glow like embers for two hours. On the second setting, the pen would also emit fireworks to light up whatever it was you were working on. On the third setting, the pen would make magical lights and candles flicker spookily.

"Happy Birthday," Echo agreed, coming around to Irene's other side and waiting with his messily wrapped box. He kind of hoped that no one would see him give his gift to Elly. His mom had picked it out, and it was a necklace with a locket on the end, shaped like a swirly sun. In the locket was a picture of him, Meredith, and Elly. It was pretty girly. Elly would probably like it if only because of the picture inside, but he thought it was embarrassingly sentimental.

0 Echo Elms (with Brett Hodges) More Late Arrivals 0 Echo Elms (with Brett Hodges) 0 5

Elly

November 30, 2008 11:14 AM

The more the merrier! by Elly

Laughing at Saul's description of his own lack of musical talent, Elly considered they probably didn't need music anyway, though Saul had offered - well, techincally he had offered Mr Tellerman's belongings, but Elly was fairly sure they'd be welcome to borrow them... at least, that was the impression Saul always gave.

Pretty soon Irene came round the corner, and Elly stoode from the swing to give her friend a hug. Irene asked what to do with Elly's gift, and the redhead shamelessly said, "Gimme!" Her friends certainly didn't have to get her presents - and Elly thought they knew that - but she loved that they'd gone to the trouble.

Elly was just deciding that the savory snacks were definitely a bad idea, seeing as only the sweet foods were gaining any interest, and then two more friends arrived: Echo and Brett -shaped friends. Elly's normally manic grin was probably bordering on scary as she returned greetings and accepted gifts. She didn't try to hug Brett as he was already occupied with Irene - which, by the way, was still the cutest thing ever - but she did throw an arm around Echo's shoulders while proclamining, "I'm nearly all grown up!" before placing her still-wrapped presents at the base of the tree. Elly took the car from her pocket and placed that with the other gifts, which she would open later.

"Hey guys, check it out." Elly skipped to the bag she'd brought down along with the blanket, and pulled out a small box. She took the lid off it and reached inside, collecting a pinch of the powder contained therein. She threw the pinch of powder up out in front of her, and watched with delight as it crackled like tiny fireworks in assorted colours. "I thought we could wait til it gets dark and throw our own mini display," she said, her excitement of the prospect remaining glaringly obvious.

0 Elly The more the merrier! 0 Elly 0 5

Meredith Lail

November 30, 2008 2:06 PM

And Merry is all about the merriment. by Meredith Lail

Whether Meredith understood the excitement over a sixteenth birthday or not, she was still happily eager to meet her friends in the Labyrinth Gardens for Elly’s birthday party. Noon couldn’t come soon enough. But there were ways for passing the time on Saturday mornings when no classes were in session.

She promised Ms. Laura over the summer that she would be practicing all year and then could come back next summer and help her in the studio with the kids who were there year round practicing for competitions and such. It was almost as exciting a prospect as being told she could be an alternative beater for the Nashville Negators. Okay, maybe not quite as exciting as that dream, but it was still really exciting. The gymnastics instructor was a tough woman and being invited to act as an assistant was an honor.

By the time Mere showered, changed into jeans, a layered tee shirt and sneakers, and reached the designated spot in the Gardens, some of her friends had already arrived. She turned the corner (was the space bigger than usual?) and saw Elly, her back mostly facing Mere’s spot, opening a box of powder and tossing some into the air watching it crackle and pop. It reminded Meredith of some of the cups from the Midsummer Ball. She hurried into the clearing and using Elly’s shoulders as something of a bounce pad, hugged her around the shoulders from behind while being wary of the box Elly held.

“That looks awesome! You’re never without an idea, are you?” Mere laughed. “Happy birthday, Elly!”

Because of the box in her friend’s hands, Mere withheld the gift wrapped in her favorite dancing prairie elf wrapping paper. It was an icosahedron the size of a fist made of a durable crystal substitute, in case of any wayward limbs, and filled with water and an enchanted flower shaped candle bobbing within. It was lit with a simple lumos spell. Mere didn’t know the name of the shape when she got it, but it looked cool and the way the candle lit in the water was cool too. She bought it hoping Elly would feel the same.

0 Meredith Lail And Merry is all about the merriment. 0 Meredith Lail 0 5

Matt and Josh Santoro

November 30, 2008 4:42 PM

And we're here because it's a party by Matt and Josh Santoro

Matt waited for Josh to meet him in the Hall so that they could go to the party together. It would have been faster for Matt to have just gone straight from the Pecari common room, but Josh had mentioned feeling a little odd going to the party on his own. So, Matt did the brotherly thing and agreed to meet Josh in the hall so that they could arrive at the party together.

Josh was still uncertain if going to the party was the right thing. He and Elly got along alright, but he wouldn’t consider himself apart of her crowd. He was fairly certain she didn’t even consider him a friend. Which was fine. Josh had long ago accepted the fact that he would never be ‘in’ with that crowd. He figured that he had received the invitation because Matt was invited. Elly wasn’t the sort of girl who would make someone feel bad if she could help it. It was only natural for her to invite Josh along with Matt.

The twins walked through the garden paths talking quietly in Spanish out of habit. Matt was reminding Josh that there would be other people there for him to chat with. He was even certain that Danae and Eavan were invited to the party too, so Josh would have people to talk to if he felt that he wasn’t fitting in with the Pecaris at the party. Actually, Matt was pretty happy the girls were invited too because he wasn’t even certain if he would fit in with the other Pecaris, and he roomed with two of them. It all came down to who clicked with whom during their first year and they weren’t lucky enough to click with the ‘in’ crowd.

Entering the clearing, the boys found themselves in the midst of the party. Seeing that all those who were there were Pecaris and close friends, Josh tried to beeline back out of the clearing, but was stopped by Matt almost as soon as he even thought about doing it. Instead, Matt forced his brother forward, grinning at his fellow Pecaris and ignoring any protest his brother may have given him. “Feliz Cumpleaños!” Matt cried out to Elly as they drew nearer to her.

“Thanks for the invite, Elly.” Josh said politely to her as he held out their gift for her to take. They hadn’t much time to actually get a gift since they received their invite (neither twin could actually believe how much older Elly actually was to them), but their Abuelo had been kind enough to rush their order to them. And, Josh had been happy to find that it was exactly what they needed. The gift was a frame that their Grandfather had carved out while ago when their Tia Ines had opened the shop in Mexico to display his works. The wooden frame had sweet 16 carved all over it with other designs like fireworks and balloons. It was simple in design, but the shop was doing well, which meant the there were plenty of people who enjoyed his art. The picture inside the frame was a photograph that their sister, Sofia, had taken of the Pacific Ocean last summer while they were visiting their grandparents. This past summer, Matt had taken to learning from their Tia on how to do the carving, which surprised Josh since he didn’t think his brother could stand still for more than five minutes at a time or be interested in anything other than girls.

Girls. That was a completely different topic that still caused for chaos between the Santoro boys. And now, with Josh’s new status as a Prefect, it only led to more tension between the boys. It wasn’t as though Josh asked to be Prefect. The more he talked with Helena, the more he wanted her to have the badge. She was a nice enough girl; there was no reason why she shouldn’t have been the one to get it. But, even with his explanation to his brother, Matt still wouldn’t move passed it.

Oh well. They put aside their differences for the party. “16 already, Elly?” Matt asked rhetorically, nodding in hello to Meredith who was attached to Elly. “How’s it feel to be so old?” He joked, being sure to be far enough away to not receive any bodily harm if Elly reacted the same way his sisters did.
\r\n\r\n

0 Matt and Josh Santoro And we're here because it's a party 0 Matt and Josh Santoro 0 5

Elly

December 03, 2008 12:39 PM

Yay! Party! by Elly

Elly startled then laughed as she found herself pounced on by Meredith. "Nice to see you too," she chuckled, and then both Santoros arrived and it started to feel like a real party. Elly beamed at them both in greeting, noticing that the boys' own greetings set them apart more than ever: Matt was loud and exuberant and Josh was so quiet and reserved. "Thanks for coming," she replied to Josh with a smile and she accepted the present.

"How's it feel to be so old?" Matt asked, and Elly laughed. Truthfully, she didn't feel any different than she had felt yesterday, or the day before. It didn't seem a very interesting reply, though.

"Terrible," she said instead, with a mischeivous wink. "My teeth are falling out, I can't stand the cold and my back aches... but that might be because there's something small and blonde clinging to it," Elly smirked. She shrugged Meredith off and poked her tongue out in a not-so-mature way, then laughed again so Mere would know she was joking, before putting her recent gifts with the others. She didn't think it was polite to sit opening presents while people might still be arriving. Elly hoped some more people would come - otherwise they'd never eat all the food.

"There's plenty to eat and drink," Elly said loudly to everyone gathered as she put the exploding powder back in her bag. "I've got a fanged frisbee and some waterbombs in here, too, if anyone fancies them," she said, nudging the bag lightly with her foot to indicate its existence. "And there's a few balls and some singing party poppers and stuff. Help yourselves."

0 Elly Yay! Party! 0 Elly 0 5

Danae Dupree

December 03, 2008 1:32 PM

Finally making it to the party by Danae Dupree

When Danae had received the invitation for Elly's Sweet Sixteen party, she wasn't sure what to do. She considered not going, but knew that wasn't an option since it would have been terribly rude to someone that she considered a friend. Yet, she wasn't sure what the party would be like. She had never been to an informal party of her peers. Sure, most of the parties that she had gone to had included those around her age, but there were still adults there and it had still been fraught in formality. This party completely put her out of her element and she was unsure of nearly everything. There were rules to the ones she had been to. What were the rules for this one? Was it similar to school activities? Should she arrive early or fashionably late? What was she supposed to wear, a fancy dress or something more casual?

The logical conclusion would have been to simply ask her roommate, but she felt embarrassed to do so. Instead, she referred to the wording of the invitation. Meeting by a swing suggested something more casual, so at least the clothing part wouldn't be as difficult. She considered wearing a dress, but she also knew Elly and therefore thought better of it. She opted to wear a pair of her contraband (as her mother didn’t approve) jeans and a simple red top. She also grabbed a matching jacket in case she felt chilly at all. It really wouldn't be a surprise if she did since she got cold easily. Winters were the worst. She was like a bear just wanting to hibernate and wait until spring when it was warm. Though, summers were better. Actually, they were the best in terms of temperature, family life not so much.

This past summer had brought about its own complications. Automatically, she toyed with the ring on her finger. It was beautiful, really, with a heart design in diamonds and going around the white gold band, and it was even parent approved, which should have made her happy, but it didn't. Oddly enough, she wanted her parents to not approve, not that she would ever say so. She always went along with her parents' wishes. The most she ever did was her contraband clothing. But now, she wanted them to suffer, because of the position they had put her friend, one of her best, in. She wanted them to disapprove in order to help alleviate the guilt of her parents' actions. Otherwise, she absolutely loved the ring. She just wished she could have had it in better circumstances. It also gave way to wanting what was being offered, a life that her parents might disapprove of, but one that would be hers.

To Danae, today marked the beginning of Elly's life truly being her own, because she was starting on the path to who she would be as an adult. As such, she had carefully picked out a gift for her friend over summer. It had been hard to do, because most things she would have picked for herself, she couldn't imagine Elly liking as well. They were very different in personality, which is part of what she liked about Elly. She had also wanted something that while fun could be kept into that new life. After a while, she had ended up picking out was would probably end up becoming her signature gift to give, a snowglobe. This one was unique, though. The base was done in silver with white glitter. The actual glass contained various shimmering colors that swirled around the sweet sixteen princess inside that wore a silver tiara. The top of the globe had a design to match the crown inside. It actually came off of the globe and was a simple faux tiara that could be worn for fun. She had wrapped it snugly in a box with light purple paper.

Before the party, she had been planning on just giving Elly the gift in the dorm, but with the party, she was now carrying the gift along the paths towards where the event was being held. When she got there, she took in all of the festivities before spotting the birthday girl talking with Meredith, Matt, and Josh. She was happy to see that they were here and hoped Eavan would arrive too. It wasn’t that she didn’t like anyone else; it was just that she didn’t know them as well. Though, she supposed she could make more of an effort to get to know others, especially while she was here, but first things first. She inserted herself among the group. “Happy Birthday, Elly,” Danae said with a grin, as she handed over the present, before saying hello to everyone.

0 Danae Dupree Finally making it to the party 91 Danae Dupree 0 5

Eavan Valentine

December 04, 2008 5:11 AM

Better late than never by Eavan Valentine

It had taken ages for Eavan to think of a good gift for Elly's Sweet Sixteen. Despite having classes together for four years, she barely knew anything about the redhead. She knew Elly was from England somewhere, she played Seeker for Pecari and she was loud and did pranks. It was especially difficult since she hadn't been able to do much shopping in the one week she had known about the party. In the end, she had asked Earl for advice and he gave her a battered copy of Quidditch Today.

Eavan had found a chocolate brown shirt with a sparkly gold snitch on it that said "Seeker" in curly letters. It was wrapped up in newspapers that Eavan had transfigured to be purple with little balloons in different colors. The paper would go back to an old edition of some newspaper in a couple of hours, but hopefully Elly would open it before then.

As she headed toward the swing, she heard laughter and small explosions. Definitely Elly's party. Apparently she was late as a lot of people were already there. Eavan's birthday was in a month, and even if she did have a party, she wouldn't think that this many people would go, or even if she knew this many people well enough to invite them.

"Hey! Happy Birthday Elly!" Eavan said when she finally reached the birthday girl and handed her the box. She noticed Danae out of the corner of one eye and Josh and Matt off another, and wished that she had come with them instead of alone. She didn't know most of the Pecari popular crowd. Hopefully, there would be some sort of ice breaker. "Sorry, I'm late. Have I missed anything?"

0 Eavan Valentine Better late than never 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Saul

December 04, 2008 2:09 PM

Maybe I should adopt that policy for my classwork? by Saul

Saul grinned as the rest of the party-goers started to arrive all at once. He figured his watch must have gotten ahead of itself again and made him unintentionally early (digital time pieces just didn't work as well in Sonora but Saul was neither a punctual sort of person nor particularly skilled in reading an analog clock so he just dealt with the digital watch's peculiarities). He took a moment to check the digital display and shook his wrist a little, and the numbers started going backwards. That had been kind of creepy the first time he'd seen it, but now he accepted it as normal behavior. Once it started counting forward again, Saul figured it was closer to the right time and turned his attention back to the other party-goers.

He looked up just in time to see Elly put her arm around Echo's shoulders and Saul widened his eyes at the boy EE and waggled his eyebrows in a way he thought would be clearly and easily translated as, "Dude, she totally likes you, you should ask her out. Like right now. Go for it, dude."

Sadly, Meredith jumped on Elly's back and more people arrived bearing gifts before Echo had the chance and Elly flitted off to greet her other guests. Saul sighed again and gave Echo another message with his facial expression, this one obviously claiming, "Aw, you missed your chance. But don't worry! You'll get another one!" This was conveyed by a semi-grimace and half-roll of his eyes followed quickly by a bright hopeful grin.

Catching the end of Matt's tease on Elly's age as he joined the growing group with a second brownie (he'd already finished his first), he frowned at Elly's betrayal. "Hey!" he complained into her slight pause after her assertion that being old was 'terrible.' "We've got the wisdom of ages!"

He began to grin, though, as she went on about her aches and pains. He figured he wouldn't started feeling those until next year. They were generally called RATS. But Elly might be calling them CATS now. Or Meredith, as it turned out.

He laughed as Elly escaped the blond's tackle hold and invited everyone to eat. Saul nodded energetically at this and held up his brownie, "It's really good," he promised, in case there was any doubt. His attention was shortly diverted to the bag Elly nudged with her foot. "Ooo! Waterbombs!" he exclaimed and went after one with an eagerness that wouldn't have been out of place on an eight year old.

By the time he found one and got it out of the bag, two more people had arrived, both fifth year girls that he'd only seen in classes that he shared with the younger year (and, in Danae's case, in the common room) but whom he knew by name and that Elly was friends with them. At Eavan's question, he grinned up at her from where he was kneeling next to the bag and held up the waterbomb in one hand and the brownie in the other.

"You're just on time. Everyone else just got here, too. We've got food," he lifted the brownie a little higher, then pointed his chin over toward the spread of goodies. "And we're thinking about waterbombs or fanged frisbee." He put his waterbomb down and reached into the bag again for the frisbee, yanking his hand back quickly when it tried to bite him. "Hey! None of that," he told it and went in again a little more carefully, managing to pull the frisbee out without injury.

1 Saul Maybe I should adopt that policy for my classwork? 82 Saul 0 5

Irene Liddowe

December 04, 2008 4:48 PM

Who could argue with that logic? by Irene Liddowe

No sooner had Irene handed Elly her gift, replying with a grin to her "Gimme!", did tons of party people start flooding in. Had she been early? Is that why she showed up before everyone else? She was feeling an uneasy discomfort, as if she wasn't exactly sure what to do. Thankfully, some support was offered to her in the form of her favorite companion. Irene grinned as Brett reached their group and leant in to his embrace. She replied to his greeting with a a nudge into his side and a "Hey!". For some reason, it felt like forever since she had last been in the same air space as him. But maybe it just seemed that way... When Irene looked away from Brett and towards the crowd she found that it had grown decently. This shouldn't be a surprise though. Elly was well liked by.... Everyone.

Saul, who wasn't standing far, was shooting some looks around that made Irene look over at him questioningly, using her own facial language of "What are you doing?" Looking around, the only thing she could spot that was eyebrow-wiggle worthy was-- Ohhh... Irene nodded slowly at Saul and tapped the side of her head, hoping to imply "I see your game." Looking around to Brett Irene said,

"So how was your summer? Kept busy with soccer and whatnot?" She gave him a serious look, "I'm going to know what I'm doing this year for scrimages, so watch out." She smiled playfully.

The birthday party was starting to let her settle into her element, but not completely. There were plenty of familiar faces, but no complete knowledge of names or personality. She tried to resist picking on the hem of her shirt, pulling on her hair, wringing her fingers, nervous habits etc. What exactly happened at birthday parties like this...?

0 Irene Liddowe Who could argue with that logic? 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Caedence

December 07, 2008 1:36 AM

Does anyone in this group REALLY have logic? by Caedence

It had always been the two girls way to never buy anything for each other. Each Christmas Caedence made Elly’s gift, and Elly likewise crafted something for her. Caedence still had the glass and wand pouch that Elly made her, and she could swear she saw Caedence’s picture cube on Elly’s bedstand. So, this year Caedence wracked her brains trying hard to think of something that would be totally Elly, but also home made. She had even asked Chuck and Martha, who were soon to be legally her new parents, what to make her.

Finally Caedence knew what to make. It was a simple present, as Caedence never liked things to be too fancy. It was just a series of three figurines. One showed a redheaded girl in a brown and yellow uniform mounted on a broom and reaching for a snitch. The second showed a redhead and a blonde girl with their arms around each other and a reluctant boy that looked like he was trying to get out of the redhead’s grasp, however it all looked rather fun and playful. Behind the trio was a crazy older student who happened to be the captain of the quidditch team. The final figurine was a girl with a blonde braid down her back and the same redhead girl standing next to each other, just touching shoulders, but each one grinning (even though the redhead was grinning much more broadly). These three figurines were mounted on a wood platform with the words carved into it, “Elly; a seeker, a friend”.

Caedence had spent a lot of time carving as much as she could by hand and charming what she couldn’t. Then she painted it all carefully. She hoped Elly liked it. Caedence thought long and hard about putting her figurine in the group with Meredith, Echo, Elly and Saul, but she decided not to. She was friends with all of them, but she never really was a part of the whole group. Perhaps her, Meredith and Elly, or her and Saul or even her, Elly and Echo, but never the five of them at once. Also, she left out Irene for the simple reason as that the five of them had been together since their first year. She felt that that was the most special of the groups. And Saul would be leaving them soon, sadly enough, and not long after that it was their turn to go. It made Caedence too sad to think about that, so she didn’t.

She put the collage into a cardboard box filled with packing peanuts and wrapped it with paper sent to her by her soon to be sister. It was really odd thinking of a whole new family, though Martha would never be her mom. Caedence still missed her real one every day, and she wasn’t going to get over that ever.

She walked into the party a little late, as she had trouble deciding what to wear. She finally decided on jeans and a black t-shirt worn over a white thin sweatshirt. After a pause for thought, the blonde also let her hair down. She never knew how much she had of it, because it was always tied back (now she had sometimes even worn it in a pony tail). She hoped that Elly would appreciate the gesture. It wasn’t easy for her to leave her hair down. The braid was a security blanket.

Caedence noticed that she wasn’t the only latecomer, and was glad of it. She would feel embarrassed to be so late to her best friend’s birthday party. Smirking over at Echo she said, “Hey Twitchy. Sorry I missed your Noveling Fury! stuff last year. Things got pretty complicated with the new family.” she shrugged in a way that obviously meant, you understand.

She turned her attention towards the girl with many people already vying for it. Caedence said a quick “Hey, Danae.” She still wasn’t sure what to make of her dormmate. They got along fine nowadays, but she still didn’t know if she considered her a friend. Caedence also passed a smile onto Irene and Brett. They were so cute together! She waved at Saul as well. It was strange seeing how many people were friends with Elly. She just was such a wonderful girl, Caedence guessed. Caedence knew that come February she doubted she’d have this kind of a sweet sixteen. Probably she’d just spend the day out on the pitch or something, flying around and knocking a few bludgers if she could get Fox to give them up.

“So, Elly, quite the bash,” Caedence commented handing over her present. “Happy 16th! Can’t wait till I turn. Too bad you’re so much older than me. You’re such a crone!” Caedence joked. Noticing the food and fun off to the side she said, “I’ll leave you to your adoring fans Elly. There’s a cookie over there that’s just screaming my name.” She threw an arm around Elly in a quick one-armed hug before heading over to claim said cookie. Elly and Caedence had plenty of time to talk later when she wasn’t being swarmed. For now, the blonde would just sit back and enjoy the festivities.

0 Caedence Does anyone in this group REALLY have logic? 94 Caedence 0 5

Elly

December 08, 2008 9:37 AM

No Aladrens here by Elly

With the arrival of Danae, Eaven and Caedence, Elly's excitement went into overdrive. With her arms full of presents - she was so incredibly lucky and had no idea how she, in turn, was going to manage to buy gifts for everyone this year - Elly randomly gave one-armed hugs to everyone who arrived, catching some people twice, by accident. She thanked Eaven for coming with a particularly wide smile as, like Josh, Elly didn't know her as well as she'd like. Though they still had three years to rectify that, and Elly fully intended to make the most of the rest of her school days.

As she calmed down enough to manage to pile her gifts with the others before she broke anything, Elly was distracted by a call from behind her. She peered over her shoulder to laugh at Saul getting attacked by the frisbee. "Ooh, plan forming!" She said mostly to Saul, but loud enough for most to hear. "I have, in fact, perfected the drying charm now" (she grinned - it had taken her almost a month to get the spell right) "so I propose a water fight!" The last two words were shouted loudly while Elly grabbed handfulls of the waterbombs.

"Everyone here knows the water charm, right?" She did a quick head count. "Boys against girls! Splat them!" She laughed loudly. It didn't occur to her that anyone would opt out of joinging in, but should they choose to do so she wouldn't hold it against them.

Quickly filling a bomb using her wand, Elly lobbed it at Matt, giggling so much she was sure her aim was off.

0 Elly No Aladrens here 0 Elly 0 5

The Santoros

December 15, 2008 7:18 PM

They seem too anti-social for such an event. by The Santoros

Matt nodded his head to Elly, looking rather sympathetic as she explained just how terrible being so old was, but the look turned into a laugh when Saul added into the equation. Wisdom… Matt was fairly certain Saul wasn't someone who would be able to give anyone wisdom. He was a fun guy, Matt just wasn't sure he quite understood half the things going on.

Then again, Saul could just be keeping it all under the radar.

Almost as soon as they were done making fun of Elly's age, Danae had arrived. Matt elbowed Josh hard in the gut to make sure he was paying attention, but only caused Josh to double over for a moment with a loud 'oomph'. "Hello Sister-in-Law!" Matt exclaimed, ignoring his brother who was glaring at him through the moment of pain, and draped his arm around her shoulder in his usual greeting to her. Noticing the ring that was chosen was on Danae's finger, Matt pointed to it, "Hey look, Jose, looks good on her."

Distracted by Eavan's arrival, Matt released Danae and waved at Eavan with his usual bright grin. "Eavan!" Matt called out after Saul had finished explaining to Eavan what she had missed. Things had changed a bit after the summer visit with Danae and Eavan. For obvious reasons, Danae and Josh's relationship had changed even if they didn't acknowledge it, but Matt's and Eavan's was still working its way out for them. It was relatively complicated since Matt was fairly certain he still liked a couple of other girls too, but having spent time with Eavan, he also started to like her too.

The moment Matt released Danae, Josh stepped in to ensure that Matt couldn’t harass her anymore. “Lo siento.” Josh apologized. Although he knew that Danae was probably used to his brother’s behavior, Josh still felt guilty for putting her in that position in the first place. Had they never become friends, Matt wouldn’t have ever taken notice of Danae and she could have continued to live relatively peacefully at Sonora. Sadly, this was not the case.

Shortly after Eavan arrived, Caedence arrived. Normally, neither twin paid her any attention. Josh never did because he knew her history with Danae and the fact that she seemed completely insane didn’t help with his opinion of her. Matt just thought she was a bit odd with how uber close she was with Elly and only Elly. Made him start to think things like he used to think about Echo because Echo’s true feelings had come to surface (the few bonuses of sharing a room with both Saul and Echo, gossip). But neither Santoro had ever seen Caedence with her hair down or looking, well, like a girl. This intrigued Matt as he watched her chat with Elly. He kept his attention on her until he felt the hard jab of an elbow into the pit of his stomach, releasing a rather loud curse word (thankfully in Spanish) into the general vicinity.

Glancing at Josh, Matt grumbled but otherwise said nothing. Rubbing his now sore stomach, Matt was about to return to talking to Eavan, but caught the tail end of Elly’s comment on water balloons. He turned just in time to see a balloon heading towards him and stepped quickly out of the way. Unfortunately, Josh had his back to them and ended up getting the brunt of the balloon, his back becoming completely soaked.

Josh, having not heard Elly’s proclamation, he only heard his brother’s gleeful laugh. Pulling out his wand, Josh sent the water spell directly in his brother’s face. Unfortunately, due to his haste and anger while he spoke the spell, much of the water sprayed much of the area surrounding him, soaking anyone close enough to them. Matt, now soaked, took retaliation with his own wand, no longer even thinking about Elly’s game of boys against girls.

0 The Santoros They seem too anti-social for such an event. 0 The Santoros 0 5

Eavan

December 18, 2008 7:21 PM

It's just Paul now...you think he'd like to join in? by Eavan

She swear she was listening to Saul about all the amazing things she had missed in the five minutes she hadn't been there, but the shout of "Hello sister-in-law!" caught her attention. Matt called Danae that all the time as a joke, but now it took on extra meaning.

"Wow, thanks Saul," Eavan said with a smile when he had finished, and turned around when the same voice who had called Danae called her too. Eavan grinned and waved back, working her way through the small crowd to get to where Matt, Josh and Danae were standing. The only three people she really knew at the party.

"Hey guys!" she said when she got close enough, automatically glancing down at the ring on Danae's finger. She still wasn't sure how she felt by this new development, but after the first day or two after knowing, she had learning to pretend she was fine with it. It was better than the awkward stares and silences.

"Wow, I think that was the longest I'd ever spoken with Saul before. That was quite an experience." Eavan told them, smiling, until she noticed Matt's attention elsewhere. She turned her head a bit and noticed his eyes making a beeline for Caedance. Eavan turned away just in time to see Matt double over and curse in Spanish loudly. Curses in Spanish were about the only thing she ever learned from her father, whose mother was from Mexico. And now she did what she did with her dad, when he cussed: she pretended it didn't happen.

Eavan had heard Elly's proclamation and was very aware of the water balloon heading straight for Matt, but somehow her legs weren't working at the moment. Matt got out of the way but Josh got hit full on, a little bit splashing onto Eavan's arm. Laughter bubbled up, but never got a chance to escape because Josh's retaliation sprayed everywhere, soaking Josh's target of Matt as well as Eavan. Shock written all over her face, it took a moment for it to wear off enough for Eavan to get her senses together and retrieve her wand from her pocket.

"Okay, now you're gonna get it," she said in a sing-song voice, right before jetting water over to Josh. The water hit his shoulder and sprayed several people behind him. Her mouth formed a silent 'O' before screeching and ducking a water balloon tossed her way.

0 Eavan It's just Paul now...you think he'd like to join in? 0 Eavan 0 5